Broken
by Raven Carmichael
Summary: The events of the season finale and the tension between Michael and Kate. One shot.


AN: This is my very first fanfiction. Constructive criticism are welcome. No flames please!

Disclaimer: I do not own "A Gifted Man". That belongs to CBS (or DID belong to CBS because they cancelled it after one season). If I _were_ to own the show, Michael and Kate would be together by now and the show wouldn't be cancelled after one season!

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**Broken**

She was gone. No matter how hard he tried to perform CPR on her, it didn't bring Louise back from the Dead. Louise was gone and in a sense, Anna. The heart that Louise received belonged to Anna before she died in a tragic car accident chasing after a ball that the neighbourhood kids were playing with. Michael Holt was reduced to an emotional wreck. He and Louise were on their way to Holt Neuro at Manhattan Memorial Hospital in a cab after learning from Autumn, who is the social worker at Clinica Sanando that she has contacted Louise's husband but a water main had broke on 3rd Avenue and traffic was stacked from miles on end so the ambulance won't be able to get to the clinic on time to take Louise to the hospital. Option #2 was also thrown out the window because Zeke Barnes had informed him that there were 3 cars blocking the parking lots' exit so there's no way that he would be able to drive Louise to the hospital in his car. So catching a cab it was.

Michael finished talking to Rita on the phone to tell her to notify the hospital staff at Holt Neuro to prep the OR for an IVC filter. Louise broke the silence not long after Michael hung up with Rita by saying that he was a bad liar because she always heard that surgeons like him are all business, telling her not to do this, not to do that and one night, when her heart transplant surgeon thought that she was asleep in the ICU, she saw him looking at the heart monitor and she knew that it was all an act. He was only acting tough because he was afraid that she might die. She saw the same expression on Michael's face when he was watching her heart back at the Clinic but there was something more than just being afraid for her inevitable death. So Michael took a deep breath and decided to tell Louise the truth. The heart that Louise had received came from Anna Paul, his ex-wife. Louise asked him why he had lied about it but his brain just couldn't come up with a reasonable enough answer.

Suddenly, a red ball came out of nowhere and Michael yelled at the cab driver to look out, the cab driver slammed on the brakes, bringing the cab to a screeching halt. A boy came out onto the street, picked up the ball, quickly apologized to the cab driver and then took off like a bullet back to where he was playing with the ball clutched tightly in his hands. The cab driver then turned to ask if everyone's ok but before he could get an answer from Michael and Louise; a truck suddenly came and crashed into the right passenger side of the cab, putting a sizeable dent in the door, right where Louise was sitting.

The cab driver got out of the demolished cab and Michael climbed out the back window of the cab which was broken beyond recognition. The truck driver rushed over and began to apologize profusely for crashing into them, that he only took his eyes off the road for only a second; but Michael wasn't in the mood to listen to the truck driver's apology. He went back to the cab and proceeded to pull Louise out but her leg is stuck between the seat and the dented door. The situation then took a turn for the worst when the cab driver informed them that gas has started to leak out of the cab and that they need to get out fast before the cab explodes. Louise, hearing that the cab was going to explode, started to panic and Michael tried his best to calm her down. He quickly laid down his coat over the broken glass of the back window and pulled as hard as he could to get Louise out of the cab before it exploded, sending the cab and truck driver, him and Louise flying onto the hard asphalt.

Michael struggled to get up to check on Louise to see if she survived the fall. He checked for a pulse but none could be found. He then noticed that there was something stuck in Louise's chest. He asked the truck driver if he had any pliers on him and was glad when the truck driver produced one from his tool belt. Michael then started to pull whatever it was that's stuck in Louise's chest out while instructing the cab driver and truck driver to hold her down. After pulling the unknown object out of Louise's chest, he checked for a pulse again but there's still none to be found. The doctor in him tried to save her by performing CPR on her chest; but he knew that no matter how many compressions he did, Louise was not coming back. He heard her whisper a soft "thank you" before she closed her eyes for the last time. Devastation hit him hard because of Louise's connection to Anna. He heard Anna's spirit pleading with him to save Louise as he was performing CPR but it was no use. It was like he had lost Anna all over again. Sadness washed over him like waves crashing onto a sandy beach as he slowly stood up and let the paramedics, who arrived moments after the cab had exploded, to take Louise's lifeless body to the city morgue.

Michael Holt trudged back to Clinica Sanando and it felt like it was miles away instead of a just a couple of blocks. Meanwhile, Zeke was about to head to the local bar with Anton, the spiritual shaman/carpenter at the Clinic and was persuading Kate to go with them. Kate, however, told them that she's going to stay behind to close up the Clinic and saw Michael walk in through the door and was shocked by what she saw. The Michael Holt that she came to know was not the Michael Holt that is standing before her now. This was a broken version of the original. Granted, she was beyond shocked to see him play the drums in Zeke's band a few days ago and she was equally shocked to find that he has a wonderful singing voice as well. The memory of seeing him actually smile in complete and utter happiness warmed her heart and soul. It was as if Time had stopped and there was just her and Michael staring into each other's eyes.

She was brought back to reality after seeing the minor laceration on his forehead and asked if he was alright and Michael, still reeling from the emotional roller coaster that tore his spirit into shreds, knew that there's no point to flat out lie to Kate Sykora, so he told her what had happened after he left the Clinic with Louise. Tears started to form from the corner of his piercing blue eyes but he forced himself to not cry in front of Kate, whom he had developed strong feelings for ever since he gotten to know her after running back and forth between his actual job at Holt Neuro and here at Clinica Sanando. He even kissed her once after losing a patient, his high school sweetheart Lily, to memory loss after having surgery to remove a tumor that has started to form in her brain. They had talked about what happened between them and they both agreed that it was a mistake and that they had crossed a line because of the fact that Kate is married to Harrison and he was just acting out of grief of losing Lily when he kissed her in the elevator at Holt Neuro.

Kate felt sympathetic towards Michael. When she first found out that the heart that Louise had was Anna's, she almost couldn't bring herself to tell Michael about it but decided that he deserved to know. The reaction that she got from Michael Holt was one of shock and full of emotion which is exactly why she couldn't summon up the courage to tell him. She then started to comfort him as best as she could, telling him that he tried his best to save Louise and that she did not die because of him but because of her heart. Michael whispered a soft "thank you" to Kate and asked how the rest of her day was. She told him that Harrison has gotten his dream job in Houston and Michael asked if she's moving to Houston and Kate replied no after a moment's silence because she loved the Clinic too much to leave.

Michael then asked if Harrison's going to Houston without her, Kate answered that Harrison's going to stay in New York because he wants to work on their marriage. Michael felt his heart break into a million tiny pieces because Kate will never know how he feels about her as long as she's married but then realization dawned on him like a ton of bricks that they had both agreed to keep their relationship strictly professional. So he offered her a small smile of understanding and encouragement, saying that he hopes that everything will work itself out for her and Harrison. The "camera" then shifted to reveal a man complaining of stomach pains and Kate offered to take care of him and asked Michael if he wanted to help. Soft rock music is heard in the background as the scene fades to black.


End file.
